1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to handling devices, and in particular, to a device that facilitates installing, removing and transporting drill bit cassettes for an industrial drill press.
2. Description of Related Art
Industrial drill presses having a great number of drill bits for drilling many holes and various size holes are known. In one configuration, any one of several groups of drill bits can be positioned over an automatic tool changer by indexing a head that rotates in a vertical plane. Each group of drill bits projects radially outward from the center of the head. As the head is indexed, the current group rotates upward and away from the tool changer while the next group rotates into position. Some drill presses include multiple heads. Over time, however, the groups of drill bits on each head wear and require servicing or replacement.
Because changing bits individually consumes valuable production time, some drill presses are configured to accept cassettes that allow each group of drill bits for each head to be changed quickly by replacing used cassettes with new ones. The spent drill bits in the used cassettes can then be sharpened while the drill press remains in an operable condition with the new cassettes.
The cassette is designed to be easily inserted into and removed from the drill press head. During installation of a new cassette, an operator places the cassette near an empty position on the head of the drill press and increases the applied force to overcome the friction of a spring-tensioned sliding fit to engage the cassette with the head. Based on the operating conditions in many facilities, however, the drill press heads are difficult for smaller operators to reach. In many cases, the operator is separated from the drill press head by as much as four feet. As a result, changing cassettes requires more time and increases the risk of injury to these operators. Furthermore, providing a device that could store and would eliminate the need to separately handle several spent cassettes at once would be advantageous in saving production time.